Chapter 2
The restored formal speech neatly wrapped up the situation. It felt as if golden waves had washed over my sandy shore, only to vanish again.
He had swept me away completely, yet he himself remained calm, as if nothing had happened.
What a shame.
A strange part of me wished to feel his touch just once more.
“Your Highness.”
His voice cut through my wandering thoughts.
“If you cross this plain, you’ll reach imperial territory.”
“I see. Thank you.”
I lightly lifted the hem of my dress and bowed. At least at the very end, I wanted to be remembered as a graceful princess.
“Will you return?”
“…Isn’t that obvious?”
He had brought me all this way to send me back, hadn’t he?
When I asked with my eyes what he meant, he spoke as if forcing the words out of his throat.
“For you… isn’t the imperial palace also dangerous?”
I know. Returning to the palace is no different from walking back into a battlefield where my life is at stake.
My father is the emperor with the strongest authority in history, a conqueror on the verge of unifying the continent. Yet the world offers him hatred instead of respect.
To the point that people call him by a mocking title that mixes madness and tyranny:
The Mad Emperor, Axelion.
A man who toys with the world as if he were a god, treating human beings as mere playthings.
Even his own children are no exception. I could be killed at any moment by his whims.
And yet, I do not hesitate to walk back into the palace.
Because…
“I have a vow I must keep.”
I said, suppressing all playfulness within me. Before this vow, I had no choice but to be completely serious, body and soul.
Once more, I made a silent promise to myself.
I will…
tear my father down,
and take his place.
“……”
“……”
I snapped back to my senses after staring into empty space for too long.
Our eyes met—he must have been watching me the entire time. His face looked almost entranced.
“Sir Knight?”
“……”
No response. Startled, I averted my gaze, wondering if some hidden imperial power had slipped out of me without my knowing.
Only then did he react.
“Ah, my apologies.”
Thankfully, he seemed fine.
“No need to apologize.”
Come to think of it, I had worried for nothing. Who would fall under the mental influence of a princess who hadn’t even come of age yet?
Especially when the other person was a young hero born with the greatest power since myth.
And yet, he confused me again.
“Somehow…”
“Yes?”
“I feel like I won’t be able to forget Your Highness.”
“……”
In the darkness, he smiled faintly, as if he might scatter away at any moment.
What about me had left such an impression on him? I didn’t know.
As the moment of farewell approached, silence fell between us. A princess and a prince of hostile nations—it wasn’t a relationship where even simple farewells came easily.
The clouds drifted away, and starlight poured down from the sky. Standing alone with him in that brilliant field, I couldn’t help but dwell on a single thought.
Would we both survive—
on our respective battlefields?
“May you remain in good health, Your Highness.”
“May you remain in good health, Sir Knight.”
We turned and walked away—each heading in opposite directions, farther from one another.
Chapter 1. I Never Wanted This Kind of Reunion
The velvet dress was entirely black, yet the excessive ornaments and lace could not be hidden.
The veil covering my face should have looked neat and solemn, but instead it gave off a seductive air, like something from a masquerade ball.
Even mourning attire in the imperial palace flaunted extravagance. It was due to the mad emperor’s taste—he preserved only what was beautiful.
Today was the funeral of my eighteenth brother.
In the imperial family, funerals were monthly events, and siblings were as distant as strangers. I barely knew the brother who died this time—just his name and face.
And yet, for the first time in a while, I felt genuine grief.
“They say he tried to poison His Majesty.”
“I heard he drank the poison first to avoid suspicion.”
“Shh, they’re trying to pass it off as suicide.”
I silently honored his noble resolve.
My eighteenth brother was also the last prince.
The mad emperor—true to his title—treated his children’s lives like insects. He was especially cruel to his sons. The reason lay in a prophecy delivered long ago from the Grand Monastery.
“The Mad Emperor will be slain by his son, who will take the throne.”
The emperor was ruthless. Instead of purging them all at once, he drove the princes to death under deceitful pretexts.
He sowed discord among them so they would kill each other, sent them to unwinnable battlefields or monster hunts where even their bodies couldn’t be recovered, and executed them under fabricated charges of treason.
Even those who survived were further humiliated. Under the guise of selecting a successor, he threw the princes into an arena and forced them to fight in chaotic battles—like slave gladiators entertaining the empire’s citizens.
Many went mad or took their own lives.
A total of sixty-seven princes—all dead.
Not a single one remained.
“May you rest in peace.”
I placed a white flower upon the coffin.
Lifting my head, I saw the gray-blue sky through the veil, like the bars of a prison. As if the sky itself was about to shed cold tears, white snow began to fall slowly.
“If you’re going to cry, go inside. You look pathetic.”
“……”
A sharp, cold voice struck me like a slap, interrupting my thoughts.
I turned to the person on my right.
Short pale-purple hair, chin raised high, eyes looking down with disdain—
This cold, arrogant woman was my older sister, Orlette—the nineteenth-born princess, still alive.
Nearby nobles grew tense. Since we usually exchanged insults instead of greetings, they likely assumed she was provoking me again.
I had no intention of correcting their misunderstanding.
I whispered so only she could hear.
“You should say that to yourself. Your eyes are red—try glaring harder to hide it.”
“I’ll just say a blood vessel burst from staring at you.”
“So you had a plan. I’ll gladly play along.”
As we maintained the illusion of hostility…
“Waaah… sob…”
While I locked eyes with Orlette, noise erupted from my left.
A beautiful woman with honey-like golden hair clung close to me, crying pitifully.
“Sisters, how could you!”
The moment I looked at her, she collapsed dramatically—like a flower losing its petals in the rain.
This was Nanen, the fortieth-born princess.
Beautiful, charming, and beloved by the emperor.
The nobles tensed again. Nanen always had a way of speaking that provoked me.
“How can you not shed a single tear at our brother’s funeral? What are your hearts made of? Ice? Steel? Fine—I’ll cry enough for all of you, dear brother!”
I didn’t know if my share of tears had gone to her, but it certainly dried my eyes further.
Still, there was one thing I had to point out.
“Do you even know his name?”
“…Hic—sob!”
As expected.
I opened and closed my mouth silently, suppressing a sigh. Then I whispered to her.
“Do you really have to do this at a funeral?”
“I helped you not cry.”
“…Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Neither of us was lying.
Though the emperor wasn’t present, his eyes and ears were everywhere.
If his daughters cried at the funeral of a son who tried to poison him, how displeased would he be?
Only someone like Nanen—treated like a beloved pet—could escape punishment.
Orlette, Nanen, and I stood side by side in silence.
That was the only good thing about funerals—lowering your gaze in gloom could be mistaken for mourning.
Orlette spoke.
“All the princes are dead.”
The emperor had eliminated the threat in the prophecy. But I didn’t think it was over.
“And yet, Father won’t feel at ease.”
At Nanen’s words, we exchanged glances in agreement.
“The Mad Emperor will be slain by his son, who will take the throne.”
Rumors had begun to spread—that the prophecy had been altered.
That the true prophecy said not “son,” but “child.”
Now that all the sons were gone… the daughters would be next.
“Prepare yourselves.”
Just then, a middle-aged chamberlain appeared.
“To all Her Highnesses—the Emperor summons you.”
